Yogyakarta (city)

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This article is about the city of Yogyakarta. For the Yogyakarta Special Region, see Yogyakarta (special region).

Area
Yogyakarta
Motto: Mangayu Hayuning Bawono

Mayor	Herry Zudianto
- City	32.8 km² km²
Population
- City (2004)	511,744
- Density	15,601.2/km²
Time zone	WIB (UTC+7)
Website: www.jogja.go.id

Yogyakarta (also Jogja, Yogya, Yogyakarta, Jogjakarta) is a city in the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. It is renowned as a center of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry and puppet shows. It is also famous as a center for Indonesian higher education. It was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian Revolution from 1945 to 1949.

The kraton's main pavilion

Water palace

1 Orientation
2 Administration
3 Arts and culture
4 Recreation
5 Museums
6 Transportation
7 Education
8 Health facilities
9 External links

[edit] Orientation

The area of the city is 32.5 km². While the city sprawls in all directions from the kraton, the core of the modern city is to the north, site of a few buildings with distinctive Dutch colonial-era architecture, and the contemporary commercial district. Jalan Malioboro, with rows of sidewalk vendors and nearby market and malls, is the primary shopping street for tourists in the city, while Jalan Solo, further north, is a shopping district more frequented by locals. At the southern end of Malioboro, on the east side is the large local market of Beringharjo, not far from Fort Vredeburg a restored Dutch fort.

At Yogyakarta's center is the kraton, or Sultan's palace. Surrounding the kraton is a densely-populated residential neighborhood that occupies land that was formerly the Sultan's sole domain; evidence of this former use remains in the form of old walls and the ruined "Water Castle" (Tamansari), built in 1758 as a pleasure garden. No longer used by the sultan, the garden had been largely abandoned, and was used for housing by palace employees and descendants. Reconstruction efforts began in 2004, and an effort to renew the neighborhood around the kraton has begun. The site is a developing tourist attraction.

[edit] Administration

The city is divided into 14 districts (kecamatan).

Gondokusuman
Jetis
Tegalrejo
Umbulharjo
Kotagede
Mergangsan
Ngampilan
Danurejan
Kraton
Wirobrajan
Pakualaman
Mantrijeron
Gedongtengen
Gondomanan

[edit] Arts and culture

Yogyakarta is known for its silver work, leather puppets used for shadow plays (wayang kulit), and a unique style of making batik dyed fabric. It is also known for its vivid contemporary art scene. Yogyakarta is also known for its gamelan music, including the unique style Gamelan Yogyakarta, which developed in the courts.

[edit] Recreation

The City contains an extensive aquarium, containing one of the largest shark tanks in the world, with a walk-through tunnel. It is situated in a recreational complex which also contains athletic, games-playing and aquatic facilities, and a fun-fair. The rides therein are not as complex, and do not contain as many loops and inversions as some rides in the United Kingdom and in the United States of America, but are nevertheless well patronised.

[edit] Museums

Due to the importance of Yogyakarta during the war of independence from the Dutch, there are numerous memorials and museums. Yogya Kembali, and Fort Vredeburg are two major museums of about 11 named in the city.

To the east of the town centre is a large air-force museum; as Indonesia was for a period in the Soviet sphere of influence this museum contains a number of vintage Russian aircraft not widely available for inspection in the NATO sphere of influence. The collection includes examples of the Mig 15 trainer (NATO designation Mongol), MiG 17 (Fresco), MiG 19 (Farmer), Mig 21 (Fishbed) and Tu16 (Badger), together with an assortment of American and British aircraft.

[edit] Transportation

Yogyakarta is served by Adisucipto International Airport.

The city is located on one of the two major railway lines across Java between Jakarta / Bandung and Surabaya. It has two passenger railway stations, Tugu is the major intercity station. The other is Lempuyangan.

The city has an extensive system of public city buses, and is a major destination for inter-city buses to elsewhere on Java or Bali, as well as taxis, andong, and becak. Motorbikes are by far the most commonly-used personal transportation, but an increasing number of residents own automobiles.

[edit] Education

The site of several major universities, Yogyakarta is widely recognized as an educational city. The north of the province is home to Gadjah Mada University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Indonesia. Other famous universities in Yogyakarta are Institut Sains dan Teknologi AKPRIND - Yogyakarta, Indonesian Institute of the Arts - Yogyakarta, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Universitas Sanata Dharma, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Yogyakarta, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta, and Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana.

[edit] Health facilities

The major hospitals in Yogyakarta include Rumah Sakit Umum Pusat (RSUP) Dr Sardjito Yogyakarta - Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Bethesda Hospital Yogyakarta, and Panti Rapih Hospital.